As commonly constructed, a loom is provided with one or more shuttles which are propelled by picking mechanism back and forth between shuttle boxes located on the opposite sides of the loom, the loom having an oscillating lay mounting a race plate over which the shuttles travel. The shuttle boxes are designed to receive and stop the shuttles after they travel across the loom, the boxes also serving to guide the shuttles as they are being picked or propelled across the loom.
Some looms have single shuttle boxes on each side which restrict weaving to the use of a single shuttle traveling back and forth. Other looms employ shuttle boxes having a plurality of shuttle receiving cells mounted one above the other for receiving a plurality of shuttles, thereby permitting the use of different colored yarns and the formation of pattern effects in the fabric being woven. The shuttle boxes are shifted in a sequence determined by a device known as a pattern chain, the boxes being raised and lowered to position the various cells in active position to obtain the desired effects.
Generally speaking, the shuttles have heretofore been stopped by impact, movement of the shuttle being arrested primarily by a loom check positioned immediately beyond the shuttle box. Since a very considerable force is required to propel the shuttle across the loom, the impact forces are quite high and tend to disturb the filling package within the shuttle. While efforts have hitherto been made to reduce the impact by providing binders in the shuttle boxes adapted to engage and retard the speed of the shuttle, such binders were difficult to adjust and maintain in adjustment, and generally were not effective to adequately overcome the impact forces.
Another problem inherent in shuttle boxes of knwon construction is their relatively high noise level, which has become of increasing concern in view of government regulations relating to factory noise levels.
The present invention seeks to overcome the objectionable features of presently known shuttle boxes by providing shuttle boxes which effectively retard the speed of the shuttle as it enters the shuttle box, thereby materially reducing the impact force. In addition, shuttle boxes in accordance with the present invention reduce the noise created by the shuttle as it is brought to a stop.